Sunday, 6 April 2008 13:37 by
Dave Well, this should come as no surprise.
Although there is still another night of basketball left in the NCAA Tournament, the winner of the Loudoun County Magnificent 7 King Of All Media Basketball Challenge can already be determined.
That’s because NO ONE can get tonight’s championship game right. Three – Dan Sousa, Carl Lukat and Jason Rufner – picked UCLA to win, while the other four – Erica Garman, Paul Tenorio, Paul Draisey and myself – picked North Carolina. UNC and UCLA were both told “thanks for playing, enjoy the summer,” Saturday night by Kansas and Memphis State.
Nice job, folks. We’re now renaming it the Loudoun County Magnificent “0 for 7” King Of All Media Basketball Challenge.
This means Garman, of Living In Loco fame on LoudounExtra.com and Comcast Cable, won with 21 points. Garman was the only woman in the contest, and the only non-sportswriter in the competition. She’s also the only gun-toting member of the field, which may have intimidated the rest of the group.
I came in second with 20 points, and blame it squarely on Kristine Condie, the owner of Total Basket Cases in Lovettsville. Kristine, who was a guest several times on shows at WAGE, is a combustible ball of energy, and has a steely look of determination in her eyes. That, combined with a degree from West Virginia, and a company motto that starts with “We’re crazy…” convinced me it would be in my best interests to pick the Mountaineers to make it to the Final Four.
“You’re a good man,” Kristine emailed after I made the pick. Yeah, and a dumb man. A misguided man. A man who lost by a single point.
Lukat, of the Loudoun Times-Mirror, made the pick of the weekend, choosing Kansas to upset North Carolina, although he negated that brilliance by picking UCLA to win it all. The pick propelled him from the cellar to third place, edging The Washington Post’s Tenorio by a point. Dan “California Dreaming” Sousa of Loudounprepsports.com finished fifth, followed by the Loudoun Times-Mirror’s Rufner.
My Comcast broadcast partner, Mr. Draisey, finished dead last. Paul, who also left the Nationals’ season opener before Ryan Zimmerman’s dramatic game-winning home run, is having a tough week.
All is not finished in the general contest. Former WAGE news director Tim Jon leads everyone with 23 points, but can gain no more as he has neither Kansas nor Memphis State as the winner Monday night. Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney Jim Plowman is in second-place with 21 points, and has Memphis State to win the tournament. If Memphis wins, Plowman wins.
The most unlikely scenario, however, involves Tim Hogan of Fairfax. Hogan entered the weekend with a mere eight points – good for dead last and an email from me suggesting he actually watch a basketball game in the future before making such pitiful picks. But Hogan correctly picked Kansas to beat UNC to move up to 13 points, and he has Kansas winning Monday night. A correct pick there earns 10 points, and would tie Jon for the lead.
Since the first tie-breaker is who got the championship game right, Hogan would win. Hogan, who has been chanting “was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” from the movie Animal House, could go from worst to first.
Even Dean Wormer couldn’t have seen that coming.
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